Additional Formats

Affected Code

House File 511 - IntroducedA Bill ForAn Act 1relating to the application fee and annual fee imposed 2for nonassistance child support cases.3BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:1 Section 1. Section 252B.4, Code 2019, is amended to read as 2follows:3252B.4Nonassistance cases.41. The child support and paternity determination services 5established by the department pursuant to this chapter and 6other appropriate services provided by law including but 7not limited to the provisions of chapters 239B, 252A, 252C, 8252D, 252E, 252F, 598, and 600B shall be made available by 9the unit to an individual not otherwise eligible as a public 10assistance recipient upon application by the individual for the 11services or upon referral as described in subsection 54. The 12application shall be filed with the department.131. The director shall require an application fee of 14twenty-five dollars.152. The director may collect a fee to cover the costs 16incurred by the department for service of process, genetic 17testing and court costs if the entity providing the service 18charges a fee for the services.193. Fees collected pursuant to this section shall be 20considered repayment receipts, as defined in section 8.2, and 21shall be used for the purposes of the unit. The director or a 22designee shall keep an accurate record of the fees collected 23and expended.244. An application fee paid by a recipient of services 25pursuant to subsection 1 may be recovered by the unit from the 26person responsible for payment of support and if recovered 27shall be used to reimburse the recipient of services.28a. The fee shall be an automatic judgment against the person 29responsible to pay support.30b. This subsection shall serve as constructive notice that 31the fee is a debt due and owing, is an automatic judgment 32against the person responsible for support, and is assessed 33as the fee is paid by a recipient of services. The fee may 34be collected in addition to any support payments or support 35judgment ordered, and no further notice or hearing is required -1-1prior to collecting the fee.2c. Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, the unit 3may collect the fee through any legal means by which support 4payments may be collected, including but not limited to income 5withholding under chapter 252D or income tax refund offsets, 6unless prohibited under federal law.7d. The unit is not required to file these judgments with 8the clerk of the district court, but shall maintain an accurate 9accounting of the fee assessed, the amount of the fee, and the 10recovery of the fee.11e. Support payments collected shall not be applied to the 12recovery of the fee until all other support obligations under 13the support order being enforced, which have accrued through 14the end of the current calendar month, have been paid or 15satisfied in full.16f. This subsection applies to fees that become due on or 17after July 1, 1992.185.4. The unit shall also provide child support and 19paternity determination services and shall respond as provided 20in federal law for an individual not otherwise eligible as a 21public assistance recipient if the unit receives a request from 22any of the following:23a. A child support agency.24b. A foreign country as defined in chapter 252K.25 Sec. 2. Section 252B.5, subsection 13, paragraph a, Code 262019, is amended to read as follows:27a.Beginning October 1, 2007, implement the provision of 28the federal Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, Pub.L. No.109-171, 29§7310, requiring an annual collections fee of twenty-five 30dollars in child support cases in which the family has never 31received assistance under Tit.IV-A of the federal Social 32Security Act for whom the unit has disbursed at least five 33hundred dollars. When the first five hundred dollars in 34support is disbursed in each federal fiscal year for a family, 35the fee shall be collected from the obligee by retaining -2-1twenty-five dollars from disbursements to the obligee. If five 2hundred dollars but less than five hundred twenty-five dollars 3is disbursed in any federal fiscal year, any unpaid portion of 4the annual fee shall not accumulate and is not due.Impose 5an annual fee, which shall be retained from support collected 6on behalf of the obligee, in accordance with 42 U.S.C.7§654(6)(B)(ii). The unit shall send information regarding 8the requirements of this subsection by regular mail to the 9last known address of an affected obligee, or may include the 10information for an obligee in an application for services 11signed by the obligee. In addition, the unit shall take steps 12necessary regarding the fee to qualify for federal funds in 13conformity with the provisions of Tit.IV-D of the federal 14Social Security Act, including receiving and accounting for 15fee payments, as appropriate, through the collection services 16center created in section 252B.13A.17 Sec. 3. Section 252H.5, subsections 1 and 4, Code 2019, are 18amended to read as follows:191.AUnless the unit is already providing support 20enforcement service pursuant to chapter 252B, a parent ordered 21to provide support, who requests a review of a support order 22under subchapter II, shall file an application for services and 23pay an application fee pursuant to section 252B.4.244. The unit shall, consistent with applicable federal 25law, recover administrative costs in excess of any fees 26collected pursuant to subsections 1, 2, and 3 for providing 27services under this chapter and shall adopt rules providing for 28collection of fees for administrative costs.29 Sec. 4. ADMINISTRATIVE RULES — TRANSITION. Until such 30time as the department of human services adopts administrative 31rules pursuant to chapter 17A as necessary to administer this 32Act, the child support recovery unit may accept applications 33for child support services in accordance with chapter 252B, as 34amended in this Act.35EXPLANATION-3-1The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with2the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.3This bill relates to fees for services provided by the child 4support recovery unit (unit). Currently, individuals who apply 5for child support services in nonassistance cases pay a $25 6application fee. The bill eliminates the $25 application fee.7The bill also amends the provision relating to the payment 8of an annual fee for individuals who receive services from 9the unit in nonassistance cases. The current state statute 10specifies that the annual fee is $25 and is collected from 11the obligee after $500 in support has been distributed to the 12family. Under the bill, which cites to the revised federal 13law, the fee will be $35 and will be collected from the obligee 14after $550 in support has been distributed to the family. By 15citing directly to the federal law rather than specifying an 16amount in state statute, any changes in the federal law will 17automatically govern the amount of the annual fee without the 18need for changes in the state statute. 19The bill also makes conforming changes. -4-pf/rh

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